Review by Jon Donnis
Super Arcade Soccer 2026 arrives with a wonderfully simple idea. Take the fast, accessible football games of the 1990s, mix in modern physics and a colourful cartoon presentation, and create something that captures the pick-up-and-play appeal of classics such as Sensible Soccer, Kick Off and Super Sidekicks. On paper, it sounds almost impossible to get wrong.
Unfortunately, the reality is very different.
Super Arcade Soccer 2026 is one of those games where the concept is considerably more enjoyable than the finished product. There is plenty here that sounds appealing, from the extensive selection of teams and players to the various game modes and local multiplayer options, but actually playing the game quickly becomes an exercise in frustration.
The presentation is one of the stronger aspects. The cartoon-style graphics are decent without trying to be overly complicated, and the overall look suits the arcade approach. The sound effects are also good, while the music does its job nicely in the background. It certainly looks and sounds like a game that understands the sort of experience it is trying to recreate.
The developers have also done a reasonably entertaining job of getting around the lack of official football licences. You obviously do not get the real names of the clubs and players, but rather than simply making everything completely unrecognisable, the game takes the old-fashioned approach of altering names just enough to make it obvious who everyone is supposed to represent.
So, instead of Liverpool FC, you get The Kop FC. Players receive similarly amusing variations on their real names, with Mohammed Salah becoming Mohemed Seleh, for example. I have always had a soft spot for this sort of thing in unlicensed football games, and there is something nostalgic about seeing it here. It feels like a throwback to an era when developers had to be rather more creative.
There is also plenty of content on paper. The game features 48 qualifying national teams, more than 100 clubs and over 1,800 players inspired by real-life stars. There are Quick Matches, Cups and Leagues, International Showdown, local Showdowns and multiplayer for up to four players. You can also customise teams, alter line-ups and formations, adjust tactics and customise players.
That is a lot of football for a relatively straightforward arcade game.
The problem is that none of it matters very much when the fundamental act of playing football is not enjoyable.
The controls are the biggest issue by some distance. For a game that is supposed to be about simple, responsive arcade football, the controls frequently feel anything but responsive. The players are painfully slow unless you are constantly holding down the sprint button, and this makes the matches feel sluggish rather than fast and exciting.
That is particularly frustrating because speed should be one of the easiest things for an arcade football game to get right. You should be able to pick up the controller, immediately understand what your player can do and start enjoying yourself. Instead, Super Arcade Soccer 2026 constantly gets in the way.
Passing is another major problem. The ball regularly fails to go where you expect it to, making what should be a simple pass feel unpredictable. Arcade football can absolutely have exaggerated physics and unusual behaviour, but there still needs to be a clear connection between what you ask the player to do and what happens on screen.
Shooting is perhaps the strangest example.
Tap the shoot button and the ball can simply travel about a metre in front of your player. There is very little satisfaction in pressing a button to shoot only to watch the ball barely leave your feet. Instead, you find yourself having to hold the button down just to produce anything resembling a proper shot.
That completely undermines the supposed simplicity of the controls. A game inspired by classic arcade football should make shooting immediately understandable and enjoyable. You should be able to hammer the button and launch ridiculous shots towards goal. Instead, Super Arcade Soccer 2026 makes you think about how long you need to hold a button before the game will actually let you kick the ball properly.
This is where the game's ambitions become particularly frustrating. The developers talk about curl, swerve, knuckleballs, volleys, headers, lobs, finesse shots and sliding tackles, alongside full player ragdolls and realistic ball physics. There is clearly a lot going on beneath the surface.
But more does not necessarily mean better.
The game needed to get the basics absolutely right before worrying about whether goal nets stretch and snap back or whether every player fall looks different. When passing and shooting do not feel right, those more elaborate features become almost irrelevant.
The strange thing is that this should be such an easy formula to understand. Give players responsive controls, make the football fast, make scoring satisfying and then throw in ridiculous shots, entertaining tackles and plenty of chaos. That is the appeal of arcade football.
Instead, Super Arcade Soccer 2026 feels like a game that has concentrated on recreating the appearance and feature list of an arcade football game without capturing what actually made those games fun.
The local multiplayer options are potentially one of the game's biggest strengths. Supporting one to four players, with both competitive and co-operative play and Remote Play Together, gives Super Arcade Soccer 2026 the sort of structure that could have made it a brilliant game for playing with friends.
Unfortunately, even multiplayer cannot solve the fundamental control problems. If the football itself does not feel good, having more people involved simply means more people experiencing the same frustrations.
There is a good idea buried inside Super Arcade Soccer 2026. In fact, there may be a very good game buried inside it. The combination of classic arcade football, modern physics, exaggerated presentation, lots of teams and players and four-player local multiplayer sounds exactly like the sort of football game I would love to spend hours playing.
That makes the current state of the game all the more disappointing.
Super Arcade Soccer 2026 feels like it needed considerably more development and testing before being released. The problems are not minor imperfections that can simply be overlooked. They affect the basic controls and therefore the entire experience. It needs more than a little polishing. The core gameplay needs serious attention.
I genuinely wanted to like this game. The idea of a modern arcade football game that forgets about realism and simply concentrates on being fast, ridiculous and fun is something I would welcome with open arms. Why can't we have a simple arcade football game with the responsive controls of FIFA / EAFC, combined with arcade-style fun, ridiculous long-range shots, dumb tackles and fast gameplay?
After playing Super Arcade Soccer 2026, I found myself thinking that I could probably go back in time, find a random football arcade game from the 1980s and have more fun with it.
That is an incredibly frustrating conclusion to reach, because Super Arcade Soccer 2026 should have been such an easy win.
For me, this is probably the most disappointing video game I have played this year. There is a decent presentation, plenty of content and a genuinely appealing concept, but the controls and basic gameplay make it extremely difficult to recommend.
Super Arcade Soccer 2026 is a Super disappointing 3/10.
Out Now on Steam for £7.45. Perhaps wait for a few updates before considering it.
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